Tavelcards and Oyster cards in London

There are so many threads on travel and Oyster! Have you tried the search box at the top of the page? It's a bit odd which is why I'm asking. It says Search inside the search box itself. Try typing in Oyster and the floodgates will open ...!

You can put a 7-day Travelcard on an Oystercard, but if you and your husband want to use any of the 2-4-1 deals that are offered with a Travelcard, you need paper Travelcards.

I have always done paper travel cards in the past but I've found the magnetic strips to be somewhat unreliable. The cards were still valid so station attendants would allow us in, but it could be a hassle at times.

I too, had decided to the 'travel card on Oyster card' route for my next trip when someone on this forum (Nigel?) suggested just getting the tourist Oyster card. A day's travel is capped at about the same cost of the travel card but you can be refunded for any balance left on the card when you leave. It deserves some more research.

Good luck and have loads of fun.

Visitor Oyster: https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card

TravelCards on Oyster: https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/ticket-types/on-oyster?intcmp=11504#on-this-page-4

I have NEVER suggested the Visitor Oyster Card, and fundamentally disagree with Laura's comment above.

Far better to get a normal Oyster card, if you find that an Oyster card is what you want, which you can get at many places as well as at Underground stations, and for which the deposit is refundable.

The Visitor product is designed to play on fears of tourists who want everything organised before they leave home. The deposit is not refundable and the purchaser has to also pay for shipping to their homes. I fail to see the advantage.

I loved the regular Oyster card. It was easy to get and easy to use and was a real deal for us. We stayed in a hotel in zone 3 but easy access to the train station and a short pleasant ride into central London. We are a family of for but only had to buy 2 cards as kids ride for free.

Very disappointed to learn that on Washington DC Metro, kids pay full price, not even a discount. Europe spoiled me.

"I have to ask what the difference is between the two because the visitor Oyster has a daily cap too."

Visitor oyster: £3 non refundable purchase price, you pay postage to have it sent to you, you can't load travelcards onto them.

Normal oyster: £5 refundable deposit, you can add travelcards, no postage required.

I have not made any comment, Nigel, only provided links. You probably are referring to Work2Travel's comment.

"Between non-refundable prices and refundable deposits, which Oyster card is less expensive at Heathrow assuming you're not going to get a Travelcard?"

Visitor Oysters are not available at the Tube stations. They only sell the "regular" ones there.

If you ignore the deposit, refundable or not and paying for delivery or not, there is no difference in cost for a visitor Oyster or regular Oyster. You put funds on it of what ever value you choose and they are subtracted as you ride and you add more as you deplete the stored value. The maximum you pay on either Oyster per day is what a 1 day travel card would have cost you for the same zones you went to and you pay only the heavily discounted Oyster rate for the rides if you don't max out to the 1 day travel card rate. If you do factor in the deposit and other costs, the regular Oyster is the most affordable because of the £5 refundable deposit.

If you do load a 7 day travel card for say zones 1 and 2 onto your Oyster, the per day price is even better since the 7 day card is less expensive than 7 single day cards for the same zones. Also, if you have the travel card loaded onto your Oyster and you do go out of the travel card zone you paid for the Oyster funds cover those rides while the travel card will simply refuse to let you through the turnstile. A much better option.

We achieved so much benefit from the 2-4-1 deals that come with a paper Travelcard on our last visit that we will be doing that again, x3 as we will be in Lindon for three weeks. Never had a problem with it working, but we mostly rode buses. Still, on the last day we rode the Tube to get to the airport and it worked fine.

FWIW, on buses you just flash the card, no turnstiles involved.

My daughter and I will be in London 2nd week of May for 5 full days. After reading numerous posts, oyster vs. travel cards, I planned on purchasing the 7 day travel card at Victoria station.

I looked at the participating sites that allow the 2-4-1, and I see that most of the vouchers the offer is only valid thru 4/30/16? Do I understanding this correctly?

It is a rolling offer that has been available for years, so expect the validity to be pushed out soon. Some attractions do drop out for a few months in the summer when they have no need to discount their admission.

We had no trouble getting the full range of 2-4-1 offers last September, which is also high season. The current offers appeared the month before we left, so I could print them out ahead of time. They seem to issue them for blocks of 3-4 months at a time.

The Tower of London was the one I know of that definitely suspended availability last summer - there may have been others.